Kyle Larson, still looking for his first Cup Series win at Darlington, enters Sunday's race (2 p.m. ET, FOX) as the favorite.
Larson is +500 to win at the unique 1.366-mile oval, for good reason. he is Weekly BetMGM Favorites To this point, and he's been really, really good at Darlington, even if he hasn't won yet.
Larson's average of 9.2 ranks second only to Denny Hamlin. He led 686 laps at the track and ranked fifth in that category among active drivers. But all drivers ahead of him have raced at Darlington at least 21 times. Larson has just 10 Darlington starts and just 213 fewer laps than Kyle Busch in 12 fewer races.
Darlington is a track that suited Larson's driving style. Drivers have to be prepared to run as close to the wall as possible in the corners to find the pace and Larsson is one of the best in the Cup Series at running near the wall. An engine failure at this race the year before had eliminated him in 36th place, Larson never finished outside the top 14 at Darlington.
He also has five second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. He is the driver to beat on Sunday, and it would be hard for us to back anyone else to victory.
Here's a look at what else you need to know to bet on Sunday's race.
Favorite
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Kyle Larson (+500)
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Denny Hamlin (+600)
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Martin Truex Jr. (+700)
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Tyler Reddick (+900)
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William Byron (+1000)
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Kyle Busch (+1000)
Hamlin's finishing average is 7.5 and he has 16 top 10s in 21 starts. He leads all active drivers with four Darlington victories. Truex has won twice at Darlington and has led laps in each of his last six starts. Reddick has three top-10 finishes in only seven starts. Byrne has been one of the fastest drivers in the first third of the season, even if his Darlington stats are not exceptional. Busch was also great at Darlington, but due to two crashes and one engine failure, was unable to finish higher than 30th in his last three starts.
good mid-range value
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Chase Elliott (+1400)
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Kevin Harvick (+1400)
Elliott's average finish of 19th at Darlington resulted in four crashes that ended his race. But he finished in the top 10 on five separate occasions. Harvick had not finished outside the top 10 at Darlington since finishing 16th in 2012, before his car randomly caught fire and he finished 33rd in the fall.
don't bet on this driver
Jones is really, really good at Darlington. But his win in the Fall race last year was probably an anomaly. He failed to finish two of his first three races with Legacy Motor Club at the track, and his best non-Atlanta intermediate track finish this season is 19th.
Looking for a long shot?
It looks like the Darlington fits Berry's driving style well, especially since he'll be in top-tier equipment once again, subbing for Alex Bowman.